3.Relational: humans as
male/female and in community as they manifest the “image of God”

·Scholars commonly speak as if these categories are
mutually exclusive.My view is
that the linguistic and exegetical details favor the idea that “in our image,
after our likeness” implies that humans were made with some kind of resemblance
to God, which was to enable them to represent God as benevolent rulers, and to
find their fulfillment in their relationships with each other and with God.That is, I have combined all three
views,…[5]

iii.God
chooses Israel as a special people:to manifest God’s character to the
nations (Deuteronomy 4.5-8)

·Special laws that mark them out as the people of
God and manifest a distinct identity (example: Leviticus 19.19)

iv.Offices
and institutions

·Prophet—speak on God’s behalf

·Priest—mediate for the people on behalf of God

·King—rules God people with the ideal of justice
and righteousness

v.Much
of the Old Testament is taken up with narrating the failure of Israel and its
institutions to fulfill their task of being a light to the nations and the
subsequent judgment of God upon his people.

b.New Testament—redemption accomplished and
fulfilled

i.Jesus
Christ is the central character of the New Testament

ii.Perspectives
on Jesus—his identity and mission

·Embodiment of Israel—where Israel failed to be a
light to the nations, Jesus faithfully fulfills his task[8]

·Healer—there is no denigration of the body

·Fully human and fully God—incarnation (John
1.1-3, 14)

·Perfect embodiment of prophet, priest, and king

·Crucifixion on the cross—Jesus sees this as a
“ransom” (Mark 10.45)

·Resurrection from the dead

iii.Early
church: portrait of its life, teaching, and mission in the rest of the New Testament
(Acts, and Letters)

·Central message is Jesus’ death and resurrection
as the focal point of redemption

·New community is formed around this belief and
experience (the “church”)

·These followers of Jesus are to manifest the
life of God through Christ to the nations—to be the light of the world (Matthew
5.14-16)

·Wait for the return of Christ while manifesting
the reality of the Kingdom of God here and now in their beliefs and lifestyles

·As the Jesus message-movement moves out into the
nations beyond Israel there is an increasing challenge to bring the new
converts into ethical alignment with behavior consistent with the message of
Jesus

b.Resurrection has reference to the entirety of
the created order—it will be renewed and set free from its curse and “groaning”
(Romans 8.18-22)

c.A future separation of the righteous and the
wicked (Mathew 25.31-46) à
heaven or hell

7.Conclusions—biblical
view of humanity

a.Created in the image of God to rule and reign in
communion with God over God’s creation

b.The Fall brings disruption and death at every
level of humanity

c.Redemption is God’s gracious program to reunite
humanity to himself and institute his wise and kind rule over the earth (“the
kingdom of God”)

d.Redemption finds its ultimate fulfillment in
Jesus Christ who is both God and man.He is, thus, the mediator between God and humanity.His death and resurrection is the great
redemptive event in the entirety of the Bible

e.God will restore all things and bring
resurrection power to bear in transforming his people and the rest of the
created order into the fullness of his righteous rule on earth.Those who are Christ’s people by belief
and allegiance to him will rule and reign with Christ forever.

[5]
C. John Collins. Did Adam and Eve Really
Exist?Who They Were and Why You
Should Care (Crossway, 2011), p. 94.See also Herman Hoekema’s discussion of “structural” and “functional”
aspects of the image of God in Created in
God’s Image (Eerdmans/Paternoster, 1986), pp. 68-73.

[6]
This dualist conception of humanity is more clearly seen with the further
revelation in the New Testament.